


BONES, bugs and "paradise".

by nevermime



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: Bossy Brennan, Bugs, bones - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 00:05:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7912717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nevermime/pseuds/nevermime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Brennan takes on a job herself, only to find out that it's bigger than she thought.</p>
            </blockquote>





	BONES, bugs and "paradise".

**Author's Note:**

> (Please be aware that this is pretty much the first time I’ve given the first person point of view a proper attempt. I haven’t written in almost six years and I am trying to get back into it. Until recently, I also had no proper form of schooling under my belt and that I am self taught. Also I have never written a BONES (tv series) fan fiction before, it was fun! Thank you.)

                The clouds grumbled with the weight of the water they held, seeming to shiver as the wind started to blow. This wasn’t what the pamphlet had advertised, not even close. There was no sun brightened beaches, instead a lone palm tree rolled over the dark, deserted sands, leaving imprints before they too were blown away. Turning my head, and holding my bags as close to me as possible, my eyes falling onto the drenched old sailor next to me. He was shouting something at me, but I couldn’t hear a word he was saying, the sounds quite literally being ripped from his mouth.  
            **“I’m sorry! I can’t hear you!”** It was doubtful that he heard, as the wind plucked the words from between my lips almost instantly. My eyes were likely wide with fear, this wasn’t a situation I had encountered before. No, this was new, dangerous and it was almost curiously exciting as well. My arm was grabbed, pulling me from my hasty thoughts. _I_ was a well recognized scientist, this man shouldn’t have been showing such familiarity with me. However, I did understand the time limit and the importance of getting to safety. As exciting as this was, I’m definitely smart enough to know that staying outside too long was something only the stupid would do. Hurrying along the rippling wood dock, we headed for the looming building at the end. Unable to make out what it was, my focus drew down to my feet so that tripping would be one of the problems I avoided. There would be a chance of losing my bags, which held all the equipment I needed for the case that was assigned to me.  
           Once we were inside, the strain on both of our hearing was lifted and I was finally able to hear what Abos was saying. **_‘You will have to excuse the storms, they come without warning and often last up to three days or more.’_** His thick accent was rough in a way that told me he worked in the mine here, his lungs most likely having scarring due to the dust he inhaled. My surprise came, however, when turning from the door my eyes swept over the multiple presences in the room. They were all men, I wasn’t able to find a single small frame and for a moment there was the doubt in me. Was leaving Booth behind a bad idea? Booth had always been better in situations like this, but knowing that just had me pulling my shoulders back determinedly. If Booth could do it then so could I.  
          **“Good evening.”** My pitch could have been better, bolder, but it was sufficient for now, the male’s nodding silently at me in greeting. The mingling of their voices made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck. It was unfortunate that these men roused fear in me, at least as a collective. Instead of showing them that fear, it was easier to just follow after Abos, the male leading the way to the front desk of what was now obviously the hotel. _**‘This is Jacob, he will get you your key and show your to your room. When you are ready, I can show you the tunnels.’**_  
          **“I would prefer it if you showed me the body now, I have no need to tidy myself up, it’s more important that we make sure that the remains are safe and uncompromised.”** The emphasis that was put into my words was hopefully obvious. There would be no deterring me, this was my job and I fully intended on doing it. Now. If… If at any point evidence was lost because the worlds top forensic scientist decided to get into dry clothing and the victim was then unable to be identified… It would be as if I had killed them myself, taken away their identity, this person _deserved_ to be recognized! **“Please, lead the way Mr. Abos, we have no time to lose.”**  
           _**‘Very well.’**_ It was easy to see that the man was annoyed, I supposed he had expected to be able to go home himself. But since the detective wasn’t here to greet me like promised, he would have to do. Leaving my bags behind me at the front desk after digging out my forensic kit had Hodgins had helped me put together back at the lab. Back out into the raging storm, eyes drilling into her back as she followed the older man out of the hotel. 

                                   ☠  ☠   ☠

           It was much quieter here down in the mines, the ground shaking above our heads and sending dust down around them. Since my lungs were in perfect health and I liked it that way, a mask covered my nose and mouth making it easy to breathe. Thankfully my eyelashes protected my eyes for the most part, but they still itched, my fingers twitching at the need to rub. **”How far from the entrance is the body?”** Yelling, my cheeks warmed when the realization came to me that raising my voice really wasn’t needed now. Thankfully blushing wasn’t in my nature and it was easy to move on to the more important subject.  
          **_‘About eight hundred feet, just follow the pipe-line. You can’t miss it lady.’_** The male was too close now, waving something in her face. A radio. Taking it I noticed that his hands were shaking and I realized that the man who had brought me here on the boat was an alcoholic. Feeling my mouth twist into a straight line, it couldn’t be helped as an unimpressed look settled on my face. He wasn’t much needed from here on in, besides it was obvious to me that this man was scared to come in here, the body likely having rattled his nerves. My hand waved at him in a sort of _begone_ fashion, finding myself turning and heading into the dark, adjusting the light on my head. This wouldn’t be too hard, deep underground caves and tombs built with the bodies of the dead were in my past. This didn’t bother me at all. Okay, perhaps there was a bit of a white lie in there, because the torch on my forehead sent shadows crawling along the walls. They reminded me of spiders, I never did have the stomach for them. Following the pipes down, the old man’s footsteps faded as he disappeared, leaving me alone in what felt like a dead silence, my own pulse echoing in my ears.  
             It was the feet that my eyes fell upon first, both fibula showing obvious signs of trauma. It was almost as if the victim had been hit by a truck or a car. Getting far too ahead of myself, it was best to take a breath and examine something else, wanting to get all the facts. Booth would state that his gut told him this had been a hit and run, and I would tell him that he shouldn’t be making assumptions before all the facts were taken into consideration, that science was more statistically correct and that only gamblers followed their gut. Which of course, would have been completely unfair and already, even though I hadn’t actually said it, guilt tarnished my thoughts and more focus was paid to the victim.  
             There was too much flesh for me to see what the cause of death was, but they had already taken that into consideration back at the lab. It was my job now to gather samples and evidence, without damaging the bones underneath. Stepping back, it was the camera I pulled out first, taking pictures of everything thought of, including the way I had come and the dirt around my feet and the victim. When everything was completely catalogued, it was time to get Cam her organs, the new brand of gloves sliding easily onto my anxious hands. Ready to work, I had no problem reaching into the victim, putting each organ into airtight bags and labeling them. It was actually quite refreshing to be doing things that I usually didn’t have to do. When the organs were finished, finding viable and possibly useful pieces of flesh. Hopefully that would be enough to satisfy my boss. Now that a lot of the flesh was gone, there was a better view of the bones, letting me see the damage to the manubrium and clavicle the bone crushed where the two bones met. It was blunt force trauma, the bone having been shattered at an inverted angle. There was a lot of strength behind the break, but it wouldn’t have been enough to _kill_ the victim which meant I still hadn’t found cause of death.  
             Suddenly the ground shook above me with the force of the storm that was almost swallowing up the island, making me have to crouch to stay on my feet, the movement causing the skull of the body to disconnect from the neck, falling toward the dirt. It was only my quick reflexes (which were usually non-existent) that saved it, the skull landing in the cradle of my hand. My heart had never rattled so quickly, chilling me to the bone. I was glad for the fact that it had not broken, since there wouldn’t be time to reassemble it until it reached the lab. It would be much more logical if the skull was in one piece so that Angela could scan it and we could get an identity. But from what I could tell, the victim was a female, approximately twenty-six years old and by the condition of her feet, she was a ballerina. What was a ballerina doing all the way in the mines located on an island in the middle of the ocean?  
            As my hand turned the skull from side to side, observing it in the low light, I noticed that there was a fine fracture along the right side of the mandible. At the point of impact there was a small shadow, and I couldn’t tell what had made it or what it was. Putting the skull carefully into the bag, it took care to fit it into the box afterward. The sooner I got the body back to the Jeffersonian, the better. Another rumble echoed above, dirt and dust raining down around me, causing me to press the mask fast against my face, lashes lowering to protect the much needed sight. The ground shook _under_ my feet then, sending me backward, my hand against the hard stone wall as the wall closest to the remains cracked open. Staring into the new darkness it was hard to tell how deep or far it went, a strange sound filling the space of the mine. It was chilling, like a scuttling of legs. Lurching back as a swarm of _beetles_ poured from the black hole, swarming over the body and pooling around my feet, I found a scream caught in my throat. Disgusted as an irrational fear swept over me, my eyes went from the now beetle covered remains to a large nearby rock before I climbed up onto it, brushing the bugs off my boots, stomping on them and shuddering. It was discouraging to know that I had protected myself from some bugs only to leave the remains to be cleaned of flesh. 

                                  ☠ ☠ ☠

            In the end, my guilt disappeared, having come to the conclusion that Hodgins would have probably favored this method of cleaning the bones. I’d even taken a few pictures during it, collecting some samples of the bugs for my friend and colleague. Stuck down in the mine during a storm, alone, it felt like hours before those beetles were done and swarmed away, but my watch told me that it had only been about forty-five minutes. The bones were clean now, which made it easier to pack them away, my eyes being drawn to the large gap in the wall in front of me. Booth would have said it was a bad idea, but I had always been the explorer type, dark areas really didn’t bother me any. Venturing into the cave was exciting and even the hair on the backs of my arms prickled. The way started to get a little tighter, forcing me to move side ward, but still I moved in deeper and just as I expected it opened up again, leading out through a crumbling tile wall.  
            The last thing I expected to find was a room full of old medical supplies, old bed frames needing to be pushed aside so that my exploration could continue. Picking up the camera from around my neck, I didn’t hesitate in snapping photos of the old place, finding a door and dragging it open. It let out a horrible sound of complaint, everything groaning around her, like an old man waking up from a long sleep, his body stiff from not being used.  The door led to a hallway, rusty old buckets looking like they could crumble under the light of the headlamp that was on my head. This was an amazing find, the entire area feeling almost lost in time, still and unmoving. Moving down the hall, my eyes found doors with bars, numbers glinting from under dust. Everything felt tense as I crept over to the first door, shining the light inside and trying to see what was in there. A shape caught my eye and it didn’t take long for me to realize that there was another body in there, bent and mummified, bony arms curled around equally decayed legs. The next had a body too, this one stretched along the ground, the victims arm stretched out toward the door, begging me for help. This was horrible. How long had they been like this? Who had done this to these people?! From what I could see they’d all died from malnutrition and dehydration, someone had just left these people in here alive!  
           This was more than I was equipped to deal with. finally taking the radio off of my belt, I adjusted the signal and brought it up to my lips. **“Abos. I need you to call my lab at the Jeffersonian. I’ve found something… _horrible_. They just _let_ them die. There’s so many bodies.”** I could feel the emotion surging through me, anger at the people that had done this and pity for the victims, my eyes looking up and down the hallway helplessly. **“Tell them I need my husband.”** This couldn’t be done without him, he was my rock and I couldn’t leave now, plus I really needed to see Christine, to smell her hair, and hug her close. Most of all, I had to get out of here, find somewhere with more light to drown out the hopelessness I suddenly felt.


End file.
